WATERSIDE WORKERS

Evening Star, Issue 16335, 30 January 1917, Page 3

WATERSIDE WORKERS

DISPUTE AT WELLINGTON. MEN PAID OFF. [PtR Exited Press Association.] a ■ WELLINGTON. January 30. _Owing to a. dispute regarding the ‘method or uniting cargo, work was interrupted yesterday on two ships. On one that, was discharging general cargo the waterside workers objected to nets being used instead of slums claiming that the former v were dangerous’, the employers insisted on the use of the nets, but the men were obdurate, and the matter ended in their services being d;spensed with, and unloading ceased fn the other ease, where a vessel was loading procluce. the men refused to handle more than about iwo-ihirds of the usual number of boxes ol butter m the nets, and they were put oft the job. [Special to the * Star.’] , WELLINGTON, January 3ft. j-Csteroav s developments on the ‘ watertronr have occasioned a good deal of anxietv w Wellington, and various rumors arc afoot regarding the possible or probable events of the next- tew days. Neither party to the dispute bad anything to sav for' publication last, evening, bm, on both sides there is evmenee of activity. It should be under--toed rant the new agreement proposed bv the Waterside Workers’ Federation, after rue cxp-.ratiou of the old agreement has not been considered as between the federation nnu the employers 'represented here by the Lmployers Federation'. A conference mm on liuirsday and Friday of last, week, bur. if split on the demand of the employers fmthe rotcrence of the whole matter to the Arbitration Court. The terms of the proposed agreement have no been published, hut they‘are known io inehtdo a demand for 2s 2d per hour ordinary tune, with a big increase in overtime fisnig as high as 6s per hour for the handlin'' oi hot coal), and substantial concessions in orner directions. The employers state that they arc not prepared io accept this agreement or anything like it. After Ihe conference ended last wed; the Waterside Workers’ Federation delegates met and. ihoimh they maoe no subsequent, statement, ‘it was gathered that they did not propose to striae, out would bring pressure to bear upon the employers in other ways. The disputes that led io the discharge of gangs iiom two stcamnrs in yesterday arc regarded, rightly or wrongly, as the outconic ot last weeks deliberations. The position now is tense, it may be saict with some confidence, in the light of events as wed as of unofficial reports that the employers are disposed to take a strong slant, m the hope of securing a ouick seltlement. The situation has been considered bv Cabmet, but Ministers merely say (hat the Government have no part in the‘dispute at the present time. [Special to the ‘ Star. ’] CHRISTCHURCH, January 29. Degrading the aoortive conference between the waterside workers and the employers a Lyttelton waterskler to-day stated that the watersiders were spoiling ‘for a fight. Ho said that the Waterside Workers’’ Federation had been reformed, and was being run b\ ded Fed agitators, and th<it another moustrial upheaval was imminent. Mr E. Langley, president of the. union and acting-secretary, repudiated this view most emphatically. ’Won can tell the public I.om me. lie said, ’ tnat there is not going a strike on ihc waterfront.. We are s.ck of hearing these rumors, and you can like it irom me tnat. we are nor. going to wreck the organisation that we have built up laboriously during the past, couple of years.” Mr Langley dissented from the view that there were only two alternatives open —namely, to be content, with the existing award or accept the employers’ proposal to refer the dispute io the Arbitration Court, ft be. watersiders, lie said, would not accept the present agreement, and would not consent to go to the Arbitration Court. On it being pointed out to him that, the union wore registered under the Arbitration Act, and that it was open to the employers to cite the union, AH Langley replied enigmatically : ft he alternatives mentioned bv no means exhaust the possibilities of union action.” On being pressed_ to bo morn explicit, Mr Langley said : “ We have our plans, and will movo before the employers. Mind you, there, is going to be no‘strike, hut wo* are not going to give our plans away.” The rapid growth of vegetation in polar regions, despite, the brief summers. is .attributed to the strength of the. electric currents in the atmosphere. That heavy, dull feeling due to Nasal Catarrh is a call for “NAZOL.” This trustworthy remedy will prove most beneficial when sniffed front a “ Nazol ” Inhaler. Try it to-day and get relief.— [Advt.]